Good News… Ashland’s beloved Case Coffee has opened a new location in downtown Ashland! Located in the former Pucks Donuts, Tim and Kati Case did a full remodel and re-visioning of this Ashland institution. They mixed together fresh donuts, world-class coffee locally made, furniture, and a touch of minimalist design to create a great new space!

In today’s interview I catch up with Tim and Kati to learn more – from their world travels to source the best available coffee, to the day in and day out community connections that are shared every day at Case Coffee.

Well congratulations on your new location and great new mix of doughnuts and coffee!

Thanks so much, Shields! Coffee and donuts DO make a delicious combination!

I can only imagine that the downtown community is thrilled to have you guys in the neighborhood.

The response has been overwhelming! We are so grateful. I can’t tell you how many people have told us how excited they are to have us located on either end of town. I often see people in one location in the morning and at the one other in the afternoon. I love it!

How did the opportunity first come about and what inspired you guys to take the leap?

It’s funny, because we weren’t actually looking for a second location. One afternoon I received an unexpected phone call offering us the chance to take over the lease on the Puck’s Donuts location, as they were closing up shop and moving out of the area. Over the last few years we had been looking for a warehouse space for extra storage because we had outgrown our roastery. The Puck’s location was ideal because we could not only have a downtown cafe with lots of seating and parking, but also a large kitchen that we’ve converted into storage area as well as a quality control lab.

I’d love to hear more about the inspiration for the remodel of the shop.

Tim and I love interior design and we couldn’t wait to bring a beautiful, modern design to this new location. For this space we utilized minimal, clean concepts similar to our Roastery location, with lots of gorgeous wood, brass and white. I am inspired by some of the stunning build-outs I have seen on our coffee travels and pulled design inspiration from Bogota, Colombia, London and more. The space is designed to be comfortable for long conversations or work sessions, with leather padded backrests and outlets built into the seating.

Who did all of your great work?

Almost every single detail of the cafe was built locally. You can really see the beautiful craftsmanship in the details of the wood and metal work. Nick David of Wood Theory and Jason Hutchins of Red Crane Metal did an amazing job.

Pucks Doughnuts has been an Ashland institution. How have you carried forward with the tradition?

YES! We have donuts! Tim, who was born and raised here in Ashland, grew up going to Pucks with his grandpa and dad and we have taken our own son there for years. Donuts are a treat for any generation and we knew that we wanted to continue on with the tradition and offer all the classic donuts. Our pastry case is always jammed full of fresh donuts baked every morning by Donut Country. Donut Country is a three-generation donut shop in Medford that makes donuts from a family recipe and let me tell you, they are delicious! The apple fritter and sea-salt glazed donut might be my favorites. We also offer vegan organic donuts from Organicos, savory croissants and an assortment of house made treats, some gluten-free.

Are you offering any community events in your new space?

Yes! We have free public coffee tastings every Friday afternoon at 3pm. It’s super casual and led by various members of our staff. It’s a fun way to taste some amazing coffees and educate yourself on all things coffee related.

Case Coffee has really become known locally for the sourcing trips you take to buy your coffee. Please tell us about this.

Each harvest season we travel to coffee growing countries to source the best coffees we can find. Being there at origin allows us to build relationships with our producers and pay them a high price for their coffee. All of our coffees are sustainably grown and well above well above Fair-Trade price.

What trips do you have planned for this year and what will you be buying?

Kenya, Ethiopia, Honduras, Colombia and Guatemala are the countries we buy direct from, with the possibility of Peru this year as well. These are our favorite origins because the coffees from these growing regions tend to have the sweet, complex characteristics we seek out.

This year you have also introduced a new product. Please tell us about it.

It is Specialty Instant Coffee. I know, it seems like a contradiction, right? But this is not your grandma’s instant Folgers. We work with a great company that brews our coffee perfectly, to our standards, and then freeze-dries it. It’s then portioned into these little convenient single-serve packs that are perfect for traveling, backpacking, and camping. To brew, all you do is add 10oz of hot water and BOOM: delicious, high quality coffee instantly! This new product is available in both cafes and online.

Please tell us about your wholesale business.

We love to partner with restaurants, cafes and offices that love coffee as much as we do. Our wholesale program is very simple and offers the best in customer service and support. Offices are especially fun to work with and the staff loves it when they have good coffee at work! Please contactkati@casecoffeeroasters.com with wholesale inquiries.

I love seeing all the happy faces when I visit Case. It’s not just the caffeine, right?

Ha ha! Caffeine is always a plus, but we truly love what we do and try our best to create a positive, friendly atmosphere. We hire folks that genuinely love people and our employees are literally the friendliest folks on the planet, as well as being true coffee professionals. Tim and I still work at both cafes every week and we love making coffee, chatting, and getting to know our customers. I can’t even imagine ever stopping!

What are your hopes for the business and the Case brand as it continues to grow?

Our hope is to continue to build a friendly, beautiful space where we can serve the people of Ashland amazing coffee. We also want to continue to source coffee in a responsible way that gives farmers more opportunities and opens new doors for them and their communities.

Do you have any last thoughts or comments you would like to share with us before we run out for a Coffee?

If you haven’t had a chance to check out our new downtown cafe, please stop by. Tim and I work there on Wednesday mornings and would love to meet you!

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